Cristian Volpato Faces Cocaine Test Controversy After Anzac Bridge Incident
Cristian Volpato has returned a second positive test for cocaine after a roadside stop on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge in July, placing one of Australian football’s brightest young stars under an uncomfortable spotlight.
The Sydney Morning Herald revealed the result on Wednesday, with Football Australia confirming it is now seeking “independent verification” of the finding.
NSW Police later outlined the sequence of events after inquiries from nine.com.au.
“He was subjected to a roadside drug test which allegedly returned a positive result for cocaine,” a police statement said of the stop on the night of July 21.
“A secondary sample of oral fluid was taken for further analysis.
“Following inquiries, on Tuesday 1 September 2026, a 22-year-old man was issued a Traffic Infringement Notice for drive motor vehicle with illicit drug present in oral fluid etc with a $722 fine.”
Volpato has not accepted that narrative.
His lawyer, Paul McGirr, told the Herald the midfielder is considering an appeal and maintains he has never knowingly used the drug.
“Our client has never touched cocaine and strenuously denies consuming it ever,” McGirr said.
According to the Herald, Volpato has told people close to him he believes his drink may have been spiked on the night in question.
The drug matter comes on top of a separate driving offence from the same evening. The 22-year-old has already had his international driver’s licence suspended for six months after being clocked at almost 50km/h over the speed limit on Anzac Bridge.
He was stopped twice in the same spot that night while driving a BMW across the bridge, having been at a party in Sydney’s CBD.
The fallout did not delay his return to club football. The day after being charged, Volpato flew back to Italy to rejoin Serie A side Sassuolo. He started the season brightly, scoring twice in the club’s first five league games before a hamstring injury struck over the weekend.
That setback lands at a difficult moment for the Socceroos.
The injury means national team coach Tony Popovic is unlikely to consider Volpato for selection for Australia’s upcoming matches against Brazil in Queensland later this month, with the off-field process still unfolding in the background.
“These young men, things happen and you can get caught for something that we have to look into,” Popovic told reporters on Tuesday.
“There is a process that’s playing out at the moment about that, and we need to follow that process.”
It is a jarring turn for a player who only months ago was being hailed as a breakout star of Australia’s World Cup campaign.
Volpato rejected the chance to represent Italy and committed his international future to the Socceroos, a decision that fuelled optimism he would anchor Australia’s midfield for the next decade.
Now, as the investigation runs its course and his hamstring heals, the question hangs over the season ahead: how quickly can one of Australia’s most gifted young footballers steady his career on and off the pitch?
